2016 will be remembered for...

While it was significant for those involved, the majority of Australians didn't seem too moved by it, which is a tragedy as the Falcon has been embedded in the national psyche for over 60 years and I'm positive everyone has been moved - literally and metaphorically - by the blue oval at some point in their life.

Stephen Ottley: The end of the Australian car industry

Yes, Holden and Toyota are still building cars down under, but the end of Ford manufacturing automobiles in Australia is the defining story of 2016.

What struck me though was how few people cared, especially in the wider community. There was no national outpouring of emotion over the demise of an entire industry. An industry that made Australia one of only a handful around the globe capable of designing, engineering and building cars.

David McCowen: Ford's factory closure

October 7, 2016 was a momentous day as Ford built its final Falcon in what represents the closing chapter to an important era, and the beginning of the end for local manufacturing.

The last Australian-made Ford Falcon rolled off the production this October. Photo: Supplied

Mark Short: The end of Ford Australia manufacturing

The closure of manufacturing in Australia for an iconic brand, Ford Australia. Love it or hate it, the Ford Falcon is/was a huge part of Australian motoring and now it's gone forever, relegated to the history books. To think that this time next year Australia's car manufacturing will have totally ceased is extremely sad.

Kez Casey: End of Ford Australia manufacturing

Australian motoring enthusiasts will forever remember 2016 as the year Australia farewelled the Falcon. A pivotal part of the Aussie landscape for 56 years the Falcon grew from fragile American underpinnings to become a roaring success capable of tackling Holden's runaway success.

Ask anyone who grew up in Australia and they'll probably have a Falcon story to share, but the sad truth is changing buyer patterns and massive market fragmentation made the unique-to-Australia sedan too difficult to keep alive, taking the related Territory with it.

Peter McKay: The end of Ford Australia manufacturing

Locally, the Ford manufacturing operation shutting for good in October, with all the predictable, yet certainly maudlin, farewells to the Falcon. Next year we bade farewell to Toyota and Holden. On the world scene was the after-shock of the Volkswagen Group's large-scale deceptive behaviour (first revealed in 2015) with software intended to cheat emissions tests affecting 11.5 million vehicles globally. Consumers and the car giant are now working through a tsunami of law suits and rectification programmes. The scandal has cost VW nearly 19 billion euros to date, forcing new management to slash production costs and its various international motor sports programmes. Still can't believe they believed they'd get away with the scam.

Toby Hagon: Safety progress

The year autonomous emergency braking (AEB) went mainstream. Skoda, Mazda, Volkswagen and others continued to fit the safety feature to many of their mainstream models. Even BMW (finally) decided avoiding crashes wasn't such a bad idea.

Stephen Corby: The end of everything we know

No, not just a reality-TV bobblehead winning the presidency, but the end of Australian manufacturing, and the beginning of the end for internal-combustion engines, cars being driven by humans and even the very concept of motor-vehicle ownership.

Various chats with senior people at companies like Audi, Jaguar and BMW - the ones who need to plan for the future at least seven years in advance - made it clear that automation and EVs are going to take off in the next decade. And that actually selling cars is going to be a shrinking part of their futures, as we all move to car-sharing, or Uber-like car-ordering.

Cameron McGavin: The beginning of the end of Australian car manufacturing

Remembering what happened last week in the car bizz is generally a tough ask but a recent visit to Ford's once-buzzing Broadmeadows site stays with me. The only thing missing was some tumbleweeds. Sad.

David Morley: The final demise of Ford's local manufacturing

Much has been said, tears have been shed and now we're staring down the barrel of a post-industrial society. Thanks for nothing you berks in Canberra.

Jonathan Hawley: Ford Australia manufacturing shutdown

The day the music died. Or, at least, the year the Australian car industry came to an end. Okay, we've been talking about it for years but the closure of Ford's Broadmeadows plant and the end of the Falcon brought it home. As did Holden finally admitting the next Commodore will be an Opel Insignia. Never again will we boast a home-grown big-six or V8 powered rear-drive sedans and utes and quite apart from the economic implications, in years to come 2016 will be looked back on as an ending.

Daniela Intili: Mercedes-Benz raising the safety bar

Mercedes setting a new benchmark in technology and safety. The driver aids in the Mercedes-Benz E220d included world first seats that push you into the middle of the car on impact. There are also clever auditory cues that help reduce hearing damage in a big collision, while Mercedes' semi-autonomous driving features easily supersedes the Tesla.

Drive Comments

DJM61 | 22 Dec 2016 07:17

Manufacturing without an export market makes little sense. Too much taxes were wasted on an industry that despite considerable local talent was hamstrung by head office in its efforts to develop overseas markets. 2016 will be remembered for the death of the naturally aspirated petrol engine (eg Boxster). I suppose this is to lessen the blow of the introduction of Autonomous EVs.

Unknown | 23 Dec 2016 04:44

The Toyota Hi Lux becoming the top selling vehicle in Australia for 2016. The first time a commercial vehicle has done that.

CoQueTen | 23 Dec 2016 11:10

Dale: must be helped by Joe Hockey's $20,000 tax rebate because second-top selling vehicle is Ford Ranger...also a commercial. Since when was the Ranger so popular in that it outsells passsenger vehicles? And since when was a Ford vehicle in the top 3? Long long long time ago.

Unknown CoQueTen | 23 Dec 2016 16:33

No way the second best selling vehicle in Australia for 2016 is the Corolla not the Ranger. Lucky for Ford they have the Ranger as it makes up over 50% of all Ford sales in Australia. Who is this Mr Hockey you talk of?

Steve 0 | 23 Dec 2016 20:09

Just shows what an unpatriotic lot we've become. There was a time when Aussies bought Aussie made wuth pride. Ford was let down by uncaring Australian consumers as much as the parent company and the lousy government we now have!

The truth | 23 Dec 2016 20:31

VW winning COTY despite all the legal and moral issues they are facing worldwide, now and well into the future.
Could there be anyone more out of touch with their readers?

rob2pedals | 24 Dec 2016 00:17

The Government? Whats it got to do with the Government? They put millions of our money into car industry welfare, and then we didn't buy the cars and the companies didn't make cars we wanted to buy. It's not like the latest Falcons or Commodores are bad cars, they are world class and we still didn't buy them.
I've owned 4 Falcons, but I now own an EV, as that's what I want.
Falcon EV? I would have been first in line.